Hand Me Down is a national exhibition juried by LaiSun Keane, owner of LaiSun Keane Gallery. In Hand Me Down, the exhibiting artists present work that documents and enlists inherited or cultural materials and objects.

For a painting reference, Roz Sommer uses an image of a relative from an old family photo taken in Poland, now Lithuania, in 1929. The person depicted in Sommer’s Forefather was among many relatives pictured in the original family photograph who were tragically killed in the Holocaust. Nilou Moochhala embraces the dual existence that arises from displacement and dislocation from one’s sense of home; in Chhodna (Leave), she reflects on the journeys and paths taken—in real or imagined realms—by various family members.  The family quilt kept us warm and towed us home by Ryan Richey employs straightforward compositional strategies, relatable perspectives, and humor to build common ground among viewers and explore vulnerability, shared experiences, and life in America.

Utilizing collage, mixed media, tapestry, printmaking, ceramics, embroidery, painting, cyanotype, found objects, and more, the artists with work on view in Hand Me Down use or reference heirlooms and objects that have witnessed and encountered personal histories. The reclamation of inherited materials and objects—such as a doily crocheted by a great-grandmother, inherited wallpaper, and a family photograph—are tinged with nostalgia or recollection and reveal personal and universal perspectives. 

Featured Artists

Fern Apfel,  Sienna Bucu, Jeanne Ciravolo, Monique Crabb, Dean Ebben, Anna Bella Guggenheimer, Kate Knox, Fruma Markowitz, Mary Mazziotti, Nilou Moochhala, Dustin Nguyễn, Geraldine Ondrizek, Danielle Pratt, Brooke Raven, Amy Rice, Ryan Richey, Kelly Simons, Roz Sommer, Danyang Song, Ezra Thompson, Mara Wagner, Antoinette Winters, Yikun Xu

About the Juror